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"David, we need to meet up…"
That's how my latest conversation with Rogue began.
In the month since I'd met Geralt and sent him off to the Witcher keep, I'd actually completed a couple of gigs for both her and Regina. And while I wasn't working with the same intensity as before...
I unexpectedly realized that the jobs I once considered overly complicated and risky no longer felt that way. My crew had reached a qualitatively new level. Comprehensive development and training had done their job, and now... now we could truly call ourselves a Major League team—not because of the experimental Sandy that had allowed me to take on even complex and risky missions before, but because of our actual skills, experience, and tech capabilities.
The magic we'd started learning also played its part. Well, at least the Witcher signs I'd been taught, and which I still cast pretty slowly, had started playing a role in missions. I now used Axii on every job, simply because sometimes it's easier to apply it—especially since the cameras don't flag its use—and make an enemy move into a blind spot, rather than activating the Sandevistan and blitzing them, relying on the girls to properly wipe the traces.
No, I had no complaints about the girls' work, but it's still better to do everything right from the start, giving them a chance to rummage through our opponents' pockets without having to worry about backing me up. Though we couldn't do that last time... The gig involved a corpo, and I took it, despite my reluctance to deal with corps, just to quietly test my team's skills.
"Rogue, is this urgent?"
"Yeah... today... Afterlife... get here in an hour."
I frowned.
I didn't like the tone she was using with me; she never allowed herself to talk like that. Well, there was the moment we first met, but after that... we'd transitioned to normal communication pretty fast. And this...
"Can't make it in an hour…"
I shook my head.
"Tell me the address, I'll call a Delamain AV. This is urgent, and you need to be here…"
Inhale... exhale...
"Fine, I'll be there in an hour…"
"And the address?"
"I'll call Delamain myself."
"But…"
I disconnected the call and, standing up from the table, quickly headed over to the girls.
"Girls, urgent. Hack the Afterlife."
"Huh?"
"Rogue called, but the way she spoke, it was like she wanted to turn me against her, but couldn't do it directly. So she spoke dryly, professionally, the way she'd talk to a not-very-smart solo who wasn't all that important to her. But we have a good relationship…"
"Alright, let's take a look now…"
"It's just… it feels off."
I looked at the girls with doubt.
"You haven't forgotten that we once worked on some parts of the Afterlife's security, have you? Specifically, the isolated booths, but we also touched on the Afterlife's main security, and after working with it from the inside…"
Lucy shrugged.
"Got it. Hurry up. We have an hour for recon and getting to the Afterlife."
"Even if it's a trap?"
"Especially if it's a trap…"
"Are we missing something?"
Triss interjected, blending more and more seamlessly into our crew. Yen, meanwhile, was likely next to the man who'd caught her fancy, who, unexpectedly for both me and Ciri, turned out to be Scorpion.
"It's easier to work when you know about a trap…"
I shrugged.
"…We know the Afterlife. Knowing about a trap means we can act well and correctly. But if we screw up this opportunity, we could stumble into some nasty-smelling situation when we're completely unprepared for it."
"Hmm... a reasonably sound perspective."
Triss nodded her head thoughtfully.
"Okay, very good. They haven't updated the security system, so we'll be on the Net in about ten minutes."
I nodded and immediately called Saul.
"Yeah, something urgent on your end?"
"Code Yellow."
Saul's image frowned.
"You sure?"
"No, that's why it's Yellow, but in literally a dozen minutes, the code might change."
"Got you. Initiating Yellow Code…"
And no sooner had we cut the connection, and about a minute had passed since the call, than a very lively flurry of activity began outside. Everyone started getting ready, checking weapons, and were generally a bit more tense than usual.
Ten minutes flew by in a state of tension...
In that time, I managed to call Delamain, put on my armored suit, which now came with a small "hump" concealing a foldable helmet.
"Okay, we're connected…"
Lucy's voice was slightly strained, and when I walked up to her, I understood why. Sitting directly opposite Rogue was a Borg…
Large, clearly armored, with no obvious weak points. And this Borg was quite famous... in certain circles. More precisely, he was one of Night City's legends. Or even more precisely, a nightmare legend.
"Adam Smasher…"
"A celebrity?"
Triss looked at me with interest.
"The Eredin of our world…"
"Huh?"
"A very old, very experienced, very strong mercenary. About fifty years ago, there were rumors he had died, but... then he reappeared, and his previously ordinary, meat body became like this."
"Hmm... I take it this is a problem?"
I sighed.
"I don't know…"
"How so?"
"Well, his very presence near Rogue suggests that we weren't wrong to completely scrub our history, leaving only a small digital trace—enough to exist, but not enough to learn about our past and our weaknesses. However, the reason for his presence…"
I shook my head.
"Ciri?"
"Who the hell knows? We can't rule out that your Eredin turned out to be smarter than we'd like and actually managed to cut a deal with the corpos... or in our case, with Arasaka. But I think it's unlike—"
"That's exactly it…"
"Huh?"
"While you were mulling this over, I dug around a bit in the security system and pulled the camera footage. In short…"
** A short time ago. Afterlife. View from the side. **
"Get out of the way…"
"Smasher, you're not allowed in h—"
A loud shot interrupted the Afterlife's immortal bouncer, who clutched his stomach and slumped to the floor, then rolled onto his side, frantically trying to stop the bleeding from the wound in his gut.
A couple of impacts and the Afterlife's door flew inward, with multiple weapons immediately aimed at the entrance. While heavy weapons weren't carried here, the club's patrons had more than enough "light" weaponry. However, many, seeing exactly who had decided to visit the club, quickly changed their minds and put away their weapons, and as soon as Smasher stepped inside, they hastened to leave the establishment, giving him a wide berth.
"Looks like everyone's happy to see me, huh?"
Abruptly yanking a large revolver from its thigh holster, Smasher fired what might have seemed like random shots, but…
Three shots and three people dropped to the club floor with holes through their heads. Yet no one shot back; even those who hadn't put away their weapons simply took a couple of steps away from their previous positions.
"I won't repeat myself... everyone out... everyone except Rogue…"
Literally ten seconds later, solos began to stream out of the club, and five minutes later, it was almost empty inside.
"Stop…"
The last girl leaving, who had been standing behind the bar, froze in place.
"…Get back behind the bar."
The girl didn't dare contradict anything Adam Smasher said, so she quickly returned to the bar counter.
"You know... after I became this... I don't need food or water, but the taste of alcohol…"
Smasher shook his head.
"…that's one of the few things that makes my life richer and more alive, strange as that may sound. So make me a couple of cocktails of your choosing."
The girl nodded and immediately began mixing drinks, while Smasher walked towards the booth where Rogue was sitting with feigned composure.
"Rogue... what a coincidence…"
There was mockery in Smasher's voice.
"Say what you want and get out of my club."
"You know... you don't choose your friends well…"
Smasher acted as if he hadn't even heard her words and slowly sat down on the sofa, which heavily sagged under his weight.
"…First it was Silverhand... now it's Quiet…"
Smasher shook his head.
"So you're here because of Quiet?"
A sneer appeared on Rogue's lips.
"I hate to disappoint you, I don't know where he is. I can only tell you his real name, but it won't help you, nor will the one detail I know about his past."
"If you're talking about him being called David, and also that he studied at the Arasaka Academy, my employer is perfectly aware of it. The kid is quick and smart, sure, he wiped his data, but in Arasaka, information about all interesting individuals is stored on multiple servers... and the boy, in the Academy Director's opinion, showed promise, so we still have his data…"
"But it's useless…"
"Yes. Useless... In any case, to make his meeting with us possible, we have you…"
"And why should I…"
"Because you want to live. You want your civilian husband and son to live... And compared to that, the life and health of this Quiet will be much less important to you."
"What do you want?"
"It's simple, my dear. You'll call him now. My runner will connect to you, of course, and make sure you don't say anything extra. Then you'll summon him here. And he has to arrive within the hour. If that doesn't happen, I'll cripple you first, and then I'll go after the people dear to you."
"Fine…"
A couple of minutes later, a man entered the club. He walked up to Rogue and plugged into her personal port. Rogue, after a nod from Smasher, closed her eyes, and I realized this was the moment she called me. Soon after, she opened her eyes.
"It's done…"
"Excellent... chick, where's my drink?!"
And no sooner had he said that than the girl brought him a couple of glasses with drinks, the first of which he drank almost in one gulp.
"Ugh... that went down nice... What kind of cocktail?"
"The Johnny Silverhand."
"Ha... ironic…"
Smasher looked at the girl and sneered.
"…And what's your name?"
"Claire."
"Claire, is it? I'll remember... It's rare for anyone to make me such unusual cocktails, let alone name one after some loser terrorist…"
Rogue's teeth ground together.
"Oh, oh... Did I offend your dead choom?"
But Rogue didn't respond to the provocation, and five minutes later, the club was flooded with people in black suits, after which a currently well-known Japanese man walked in.
"I think Quiet will arrive within the hour…"
"That is good…"
The Japanese man nodded and sat down on the sofa.
"…Then we wait…"
** End. **
"Mda... So this Yorinobu guy is involved too."
I shook my head.
"Alright, Becca, it's time for you to show what the girls taught you in terms of magic. I remember giving you the task of learning the invisibility spell…"
"I did it…"
The girl tossed her head proudly.
"That's good. You'll cover me, while the rest stay here and work through a secured direct connection…"
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